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by dorkpatroller



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, HEY ARE YOU ALL SURPRISED?, ITS ANOTHER SOULMATE AU, M/M, Misunderstandings, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, happy ending of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 02:02:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19285843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkpatroller/pseuds/dorkpatroller
Summary: Sometimes just talking things through is the best way to resolve an argument, but in this case Odin can write his apologies in ink on his arms.





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**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This was my first Live Stream fic! If you want more information about my live streams and how you can participate, please visit me at patreon.com/dorkpatroller!

Odin has never been one for thunderstorms. They put him on edge. The magic that he creates, the lightning that splays out from his fingertips in battle, it’s all very controlled. Nature is not. She cannot and will not be tamed, and she strikes with no mercy. That is to say, lightning is scary stuff. 

 

He’s already on edge today anyway. Niles won’t speak to him. They’ve been lovers for over a year now, friends for far longer, and they’ve had their fair share of fights. This one is the worst by a great deal… and it’s hardly fair because Odin didn’t even do anything wrong. Niles would know that too if he gave Odin a chance to explain.

 

There’s a crash, but this time it isn’t thunder. A gust blows in through the window, snuffs out all the light, and plunges them into darkness. It bursts through the shutters and pushes in a small hurricane of water. Leo is startled from his seat--he was reading in the lounge just next to the window. Odin nearly leaps out of his skin, admittedly. By the time he’s blinked, Niles already has the shutters closed. 

 

Odin sucks in a shaky breath. With the flick of his wrist, he has the candles in the room relit. A quick glance and he can see Leo is quickly trying to dry off some pages of his book with a kerchief he had in his breast pocket. He only glances up briefly to see Odin puff out his chest. “Very impressive,” he says. Odin isn’t sure that he really thinks so. It was more of a party trick than an act of sorcery. Odin takes it to heart anyway. 

 

“It is my deepest pleasure, milord! May I help you dry those tomes? Their worth is beyond even my own, I fear.” 

 

“Hardly,” Leo answers. “You’re more valuable to me than one book. I think it will survive the ordeal anyway. I’m more concerned about your shirt. It’s soaked.” 

 

Odin looks down at himself. Leo isn’t wrong. The back of his shirt is nearly drenched. The front is still dry, however, and that’s a relief because that’s the part of his body he was trying to cover up. 

 

Niles interrupts his thoughts. “Mm, it certainly is. Poor dear… but at least it was a shirt and not something harder to get out of. Like your mage robes.” Odin frowns at him. Niles turns his attention to a tea tray across the room. 

 

“You usually complain about those shirts,” Leo says. There’s a dash of curiosity in his voice that Niles planted there ever-so-specifically. 

 

“I spilled--er--cocoa.” Odin clears his throat. Niles rolls his eye. A silence hangs awkwardly over them and the only sound in the room is Niles picking up a silver carafe and pouring a cup of steaming tea for Leo, Odin knows. 

 

Odin clears his throat and takes the tea towel to sop up some of the water by the window. Their eyes don’t meet. Their hands don’t touch. The real reason that Odin is wearing this shirt is entirely Niles’s fault. In bold, angry lettering the word “LIAR” is scrawled across his chest. If he were to wear his normal robes it would be put on display. He couldn’t even put on a white shirt! He had to choose a darker color.

 

Maybe it’s time to clear the air. If he could just have a second alone with Niles he’s sure he could explain everything to him. He knows. He knows why he’s upset. He knows what he  _ thinks _ he heard. So he catches Niles’s gaze and opens his mouth, but just as he squeaks out the first syllable of his name Niles catches him. He looks right at him, frowns, and he says “I should find a clean towel.” He leaves. 

 

Not a moment after he’s gone Leo turns to look at Odin with a raised eyebrow. “What’s going on?” He asks. 

 

“O-On? Going? Nothing, milord,” Odin sets the wet towel onto the tea tray where it won’t soak into anything. “Perhaps I should join Niles to check on those towels.” 

 

“It doesn’t take two grown men to fetch a towel, Odin. Now tell me why Niles just ran from the room like a child when you started to speak to him.” 

 

Leo knows about their relationship. He’s always known, he gave them his blessing. What else could he do, argue against the power of love? It has never been any distraction to them. Their ability to protect their liege has never been impeded by it. Maybe just knowing they’re in a relationship is what makes him so suspicious. 

 

Odin doesn’t bother to lie. “It’s something of a long story,” He concedes. “There’s something else I should speak with you about, however. If you have a moment?”

 

Leo holds his stare for a few seconds before he ultimately nods his head and settles down on a dry seat with his tea. Odin takes that to mean that, yes, he has a moment. He takes a seat on the chair across from him and tries to figure out where to start. While he’s trying, Leo asks “Well?” 

 

Best to just get it out there, Odin supposes. “Do you remember my homeland?” Odin asks. “I spoke to you about it once, and the possibility that one day I may have to return.” 

 

He watches Leo grip the cup in his hand a bit tighter. “Yes, I do.” His face looks more reserved. Odin imagines he’s doing the same thing that Niles did. He’s making some assumptions. “So that’s why Niles is upset? You’re going home?” 

 

That would be a reasonable thing to be upset over. If Odin were planning to leave Niles after such a long time together as friends and lovers, he would have all the rights in the world to be angry or emotional. 

 

“If I were to go home I could never return here. When I told you of my homeland I couldn’t tell you the whole truth. I hail from not only another country but another world entirely. My method of returning is a one-way trip. Would that I was going, but I am not.” 

 

Leo watches him, listens to each word. He drinks it in slowly with a sip of his tea and he seems to take it in stride. When he first met Leo, this sort of story would sound like the ramblings of a crazy man. Since they’ve been through this hellish war, and since they’ve been to other planes and worlds themselves, now it must seem simple.

 

“If you’re not leaving,” Leo begins. He sets down the teacup and instead raises his hand to hold in the air while he talks. “If you’re not leaving I am glad. Don’t misunderstand me when I ask, though… why is Niles upset with you?” 

 

Odin could laugh and cry. “Because he never listens to reason on the first attempt.” 

 

…

 

A few days pass. The ink on his chest is fading away, but Niles is still dodging Odin. He’s starting to wonder if he’ll ever see him again, even just in passing. Then again, two people can play the writing game. With a new sense of determination, Odin gets up and wanders to his desk. He opens up a bottle of ink. He owns sationary, he could write Niles a letter, but that’s not what he’s planning. He reaches for the quill and dips it into the black ink. He picks it up and brings it to his open palm. 

 

_ Talk to me, _ he writes on his skin.  _ Please. _

 

He watches his hand. The ink dries slowly but he doesn’t risk smearing it by flexing his palm. He just waits, hoping. He’s rewarded about half a minute later when thin, precise handwriting trails along his wrist. Niles’s handwriting. He writes small, but in all capital letters. He writes,  _ You’re a liar. Why should I? _

 

There’s something magical in this world, in Nohr. It’s a magic that never happened in Ylisse, or at least not that Odin knew of. But when they came to this world they learned about soulmates and all the wonder that they entail. When Odin writes on his skin it mirrors onto Niles. They’re joined by a piece of their hearts and minds. They’re meant for each other, for better or worse. Fate chose them.

 

Sometimes they don’t see eye to eye. Their first encounters were anything but romantic. Just because Lady Fate said Niles was meant to be with Odin, Odin is the first to admit he didn’t always feel that she was  _ right. _ Sometimes their fights are Odin’s fault, but this time it’s because Niles won’t pay attention. Or maybe he’s afraid to pay attention?

 

Odin would believe that. Niles never wants to accept the good things in life, because he’s so afraid they’ll be taken away from him. Maybe, with time, Odin can convince him otherwise. 

 

He looks at the words on his wrist again and part of him misses Niles even more. Usually, when Niles writes on Odin’s skin, it’s out of sight. He draws little hearts over Odin’s collarbones, or stars and moons trailing down to his heart. Some of Odin’s favorite poses to strike for the perfect amount of dramatic flair include his palm facing upward and his hand outstretched. There are some days when he’ll find writing on his palm when he does that--little promises of love or compliments that leave him feeling flustered and warm. 

 

Odin wants one of those, again, instead of the silence and the oddly bare skin. They’ve never had an argument written like this before, but maybe it’s because it’s easier to talk in person. This is a last effort.  _ I didn’t lie to you,  _ he scrawls in smaller handwriting on his palm.  _ You don’t know what you’re talking about. My backstory is one I’ve always meant to share with you.  _

 

The more he writes out, he shifts to begin writing down his wrist and arm. He gracefully skips over where Niles wrote before.  _ I need a chance to explain! I want to show you what I mean, and _

 

He stops writing. Where he’s been writing, Niles scribbles through it. Through all of it, and then below that mess he writes,  _ Just come talk to me in person before you write down my entire arm. _

 

Success! Odin puts away the ink and doesn’t even bother to wash his arm off before he’s in the hall and making his way towards Niles’s room. 

 

The door is shut and Odin is just about to pull at the knob. Typically this door is always open to him. He’s never had to worry about knocking before because he was free to walk right in. Niles always seems to hear him coming and leaves it unlocked, knowing it’s only Odin who would wander inside. 

 

What if the door is locked? Should he knock? Thankfully Niles pulls the door open and his hesitation knocks. Niles leans on his doorframe with his arms folded and his ankles crossed. “Are you planning to stand in the hall all night?” He asks. 

 

Odin shakes his head. Niles steps aside to let him in and Odin isn’t even all the way through the door when he says “I’m not leaving. I was never leaving.” 

 

Niles sighs and pushes the door closed. He turns a lock and then turns to face Odin. Odin can see where his sleeve is pushed up, where ink has surfaced on his skin from Odin’s messages. “I know you aren’t leaving,” he says. “If you’ve come here to convince me of that I’m afraid you’ve missed the point of why I’m upset, luv.” 

 

Odin’s head buzzes. Niles is clearly upset, he’s ignored him for days. But he still called him luv, so obviously, it’s not the end of their relationship or even their conversation. That’s a good indicator that things will be fine. In fact, Odin reaches out his hands and curls them around Niles’s, and he doesn’t even pull away. 

 

“I thought you were upset when you overheard Laslow and Selena discussing if they were planning to go home,” he says. “Perhaps that you misunderstood and thought I was also leaving..?” 

 

Niles brushes his thumb absently over Odin’s hand. “I know you aren’t leaving,” he repeats. “But you only decided that recently. You should have told me before. I should have known that you might be leaving. You don’t get a second chance at a soulmate. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.” 

 

“I..?” Odin stutters for a second. “I would have never left without you! If I even dreamed of leaving, it wouldn’t have been  _ alone.  _ You’re my soulmate! The moon to my sun, the other half of my own heart!” 

 

He sighs. Maybe he was wrong, and this is more his fault than he realized? He squeezes Niles’s hands and pulls him back to the bed. Just so they can sit there, together, on the side of it. Niles lets him, so that’s a good sign that he’s still willing to listen. 

 

“It’s not that I decided not to go recently,” Odin says in a hush. “It’s that I realized I had no desire to go. I always planned to leave, but when I thought about it a few days ago I realized I never wanted to. My home isn’t this world or that. My home is you.” 

 

There’s silence. Odin’s gaze is unwavering, but Niles breaks and looks away briefly. Just down at his lap. His cheeks are darker, he’s blushing. Why should he? They’ve talked about things like their future, their plans, why should a confession as simple as this be flustering?

 

He won’t tease him. He won’t even bring it up! He doesn’t have to anyway. Niles leans forward and kisses the corner of his mouth, and then the apple of his cheek. “I forgive you,” he mumbles under his breath. 

 

Odin closes his eyes. He tilts his head just slightly so that his nose brushes past Niles’s. It’s a soft nuzzle that makes him happy. Maybe it makes Niles happy too. “Stay here tonight,” Niles says after a moment. His voice is soft. He sounds tired. Odin is too! It’s exhausting wasting all this energy on disagreeing. So he nods his head and drags Niles close into a proper make-up kiss.


End file.
